Hawks :(

[bumpercarr]

Whether they were once "near extinct" or not red tails and Cooper's hawks now have the exact same conservation status as subway rats, look it up. They have the lowest status possible with regard to their numbers and if an "overprotected & thus overpopulated" status existed, that is what they would be. The law that protects them originated in 1916 and is still there only because nobody has made any real effort to update the species that may still need protection.

S.S.S. Do it without hesitation and most importantly without guilt. These killers are not endangered any more than the cockroach in your kitchen.

I don't like to kill anything unless I have to. I've had worst luck with intimidating the feral cats in the neighborhood than I have had with hawks. However, I don't have a lot of hawks in this area, one or two pairs at most (guessing one Coopers and one Redtail). I know that when I was in Kansas for a few months, it seemed like there were hawks everywhere, maybe a pair per 4 or 5 acres. So, I protect my flock the best that I can. I lose a chick here and there and maybe one of the smaller layers to hawks. But, I have dogs and cats that take more than any hawk does. Again, I use a scareman, some bling in the trees, occasionally a shot out of a .22 with snake shot (if it is accurate at 5 yards I'd be very surprised) to scare "things" away, bigger chickens that are less of a target, netting over my pens, bushes and low level trees to discourage the predators and give the chickens a place to hide and a rooster in every pen whose job it is to keep an eye out for danger. If the roo doesn't do his job, well, he ends up in the pot and the next roo gets himself a harem. Even with all of that, I still lose a few, but only a few, particularly the chicks and smaller hens.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Quote: From what you wrote, I'm thinking you do not have children or have not had them for a while. While tone is not really present here, much of your writings / posting seems to lack compassion for the chicken owners and their families. Sure a hawk has a certain look that some find appealing. yet when you have a child in tears because of nature, your answer above would not be my go to answer. In all honesty I think saying what you wrote to a child would produce much more crying and heartache than help the situation.
Maybe if you know so much about hawks you could come up with a good way to deter them and thus save them from the SSS method. Not a gun owner myself but I just know others use the shooting method to get rid of hawks.

 

[foamyownsyou]

From what you wrote, I'm thinking you do not have children or have not had them for a while.  While tone is not really present here, much of your writings / posting seems to lack compassion for the chicken owners and their families.  Sure a hawk has a certain look that some find appealing.  yet when you have a child in tears because of nature, your answer above would not be my go to answer.  In all honesty I think saying what you wrote to a child would produce much more crying and heartache than help the situation. 

Maybe if you know so much about hawks you could come up with a good way to deter them and thus save them from the SSS method.  Not a gun owner myself but I just know others use the shooting method to get rid of hawks.

Ok maybe I will I will come up with a better method but if you do the crime you have to do the time killing a raptor is a crime I am a fire arm owner but I would never commit a wildlife based crime

 

[foamyownsyou]

From what you wrote, I'm thinking you do not have children or have not had them for a while.  While tone is not really present here, much of your writings / posting seems to lack compassion for the chicken owners and their families.  Sure a hawk has a certain look that some find appealing.  yet when you have a child in tears because of nature, your answer above would not be my go to answer.  In all honesty I think saying what you wrote to a child would produce much more crying and heartache than help the situation. 

Maybe if you know so much about hawks you could come up with a good way to deter them and thus save them from the SSS method.  Not a gun owner myself but I just know others use the shooting method to get rid of hawks.

Also I do not know about kids because I am just 23 and in college

 

[Davey G]

Well I don't know where you all live but where we live we have about, hmmmm let me see, 0% death rate of hawks and we even have a completely open run for our layers. Maybe try putting a fake owl by the coop. They make ones that swivel and watch movement I'm pretty sure.

 

[foamyownsyou]

Well I don't know where you all live but where we live we have about, hmmmm let me see, 0% death rate of hawks and we even have a completely open run for our layers. Maybe try putting a fake owl by the coop. They make ones that swivel and watch movement I'm pretty sure.

That a great idea that scares other birds of prey

 

[Davey G]

Yes it even works for other predators like coons or opossums my neighbors have one that doesn't swivel but still they have been raided less by skunks and coons then we have. The main death toll around here are to skunks and coons........and to hungry people that love fried chicken.

 

[stevenbdamascus]

Hi Everyone- I'm new to this forum and I guess I'm just looking for a little moral support today.  We've had our chickens for only 4 months- 2 Americaunas, a Welsummer, and a Guinea Hen that we got later, hoping she would offer a little protection for the girls.   We raised them from chicks and they've been in free range paradise for about a month or so.  Basically we started to let them free range during the day when they were full size and they were so happy.  I would check on them every couple of hours and they would come running for my handful of mealworms   Well, yesterday, my favorite girl, Lucille, was apparently taken by a hawk.  I'm  devastated.   They have two barns, tons and tons of trees, shrubbery and bushes and a coop to hide in.  We also hung aviary netting over the small horse paddock for extra protection between the barns.   I was always worried about Lucille because she was a little smaller and bolder than the others.  (She would chase the barn cats as they innocently passed by    I have everybody else locked up for now, but I don't want to do that forever.  I'm so upset about her that I feel like I should give up on the whole chicken thing- we don't really care about the eggs -we just enjoyed seeing them do their chickeny things     I'm hoping when I feel better I won't feel like giving up.  Does anyone have any suggestions about what I could do to keep away hawks, besides building a pen?   Maybe if I'm going to free-range, I just need to toughen up a little and accept that there's only so much I can do?  Thanks!

 

[stevenbdamascus]

I have lost chickens recently too, 3 great egg layers it is just that time of year when food is hard to come by for the Hawks so what I have is a covered run for them and when I cut my grass I put the clippings in the pen.that way they get a taste of free roaming.and if you don't have grass alfa hay or oat straw works to.
How I covered my outside run.first I topped it with chicken wire then I put a raised runner down the center and covered I with a tarp so it look like a roof. But it is removable in the summer.

 

[FVRM]

my first flock was 5 roosters and 1 hen, I raised them since they were chicks. My hen was killed "accidentally" killed by the roosters. I had to cull 2 of those roosters and another which I believe was the most perfect rooster to have ever existed, was taken by a dog. of those roosters I still have 2. I later got 6 new chicks and this time all were girls. But some chupacrabra slaughter them all (creepy story). I didn't want to give up so I got 3 more chicks and they were again slaughtered, this time by possums. Only one survived and he turned out to be a rooster, i named him roscoe. I finally moved to a new house and haven't had any major predator problem yet. So i now have a new flock of 6 hens and 4 roosters. Hopefully they all survive this time.